Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1956-10-18, Page 3Some Reflections On Popcorn They brought some colored popcorn home from the store the other day, and it turned out to be .pretty good. It comes all mixed up green and red and blue and yellow, in a glass bot- tle so you can be attracted, and the label says, "Certified Pure Food Coloring." This proves Ws fit to eat. When the shell bursts in popping, the inside of this corn is just . as white as any other kind, but the colored specks from the certified pure food can be seen as a definite eupeptic factor, and the gro- ceryman said it was moving well. I began to reflect on popcorn, a subject of long standing, and I am forced to admit great strides have been macre. Popcorn, in my . life, was originally something you plant- ed in the field farthest from the garden, because it would cross. Corn was always crossing. In those days it was prudent and even necessary to keep your own seed, because seedsmen were not so plentiful and no- where near so reliable as now. So you didn't run any risk of having popcorn on the sweet corn cobs, or even vice versa, and if 'a neighbor plowed up a strip nigh the fence, it was well to find out what he plan- ned to plant. We had a little field of about two acres away down in the woods - a spot of rock -free loam surrounded by boulders and about every third year it would grow us a patch of pop- corn without pollen becoming a public issue. We grew a little white popcorn which didn't ma- ture too early, and some sea- sons we'd scarcely get our seed back. This was true, in those days, of yellow corn, too - Grandfather said one year in ten,is all you could expect of cor. Since then the seedsmen have hybridized and selected, and the story is different now. But there was always enough for at least a winter, and if we ran short we could always seed some more next year. Some years we'd grow so much we could sell some, and still pack away enough for four or five years'' home popping, writes John Gould in The Chirstian Science Monitor. All you did, to sell some, was pack the ears in a bag and take them to the store, where the storekeeper gave you credit on your bill. Today, a local store won't buy anything much from MD "RATS" - Several of the "rats" - pieces of hair padding which backed up hairdos in the '90s - must have been used to fashion Phis extravagant coiffure, called "Paradise". It was featured at the International Congress of Hairdressers, held this year in Vienna, Austria. a farmer, unless he deals with. the warehouse in a far city - my favorite example is sweet cider packed in Buckfield, ship- ped to Boston, and reshipped back to Bickfield again where customers at the chain store pay , four cents a gallon more than it would cost them at the cider press. Besides, popcorn would have to be packaged, tinned or bottled, whereas the old grocer simply solei it loose, ' but on the cob, I remember one who had a huge globe -like bottle with a plate across the top for a cover, and he exhibited his popcorn in it; but usually a plain wooden box was good enough. You. bought popcorn expecting to shell it off. When the cobs of popcorn were twisted one way in the mechanism a great corrugated wheel made a fine noise as it rubbed off the kernels. The cobs and the corn would all come _ out in the same box, but you could pick: the cobs out all right. Any- body who had one of these cbuld shell popcorn with it. Otherwise you took two cobs in your hands and rubbed them together,. shielding the action with your palms so the kernels wouldn't fly all over the kitch- en. Two cobs were generally more than enough foran even- ing's popping. At times we used to shell both yellow and pop- corn with the bayonet from Grampie's Civil War • musket. We'd stretch it across a box, sit with a leg • holding each end down, and saw the cobs up and , down on the edge. Shelling popcorn preceded popping it each time. This was because the ears were traced. Instead of husking the ears' at harvest time, we'd merely peel the husks back, and then 'braid them together. This made a strand of popcorn, and we'd tie two strands together and loop them over a wire between attic rafters. The mice couldn't get to the corn, Corn popped better if it was cold, and in the win- ter we'd go up • attic and twist off two ears and come down for popping. • Our original popper, I've heard tell, was a spider with a cover on it. It was a little hard to manage because of the legs, but it worked. Then came a sheet -iron popper with a long handle, which was still in use when I came along. The crane was pulled ahead in the fire- place, and a pothook hung on. Then the handle of the popper was put throught the pothook, and you could agitate the pop- per very handily. Later the same popper was found to be equally useful on top of a stove. When Grandmother would hit a high mood and say, "Now if you sannups will behave yourselves, after supper Pll make cornballs," we were in a frenzy of expectation. We'd shell the corn, pop the big wooden bowl full, and be sure to pick out all the old maids. (This meaning of old maid is not in the dictionary, for some reason. • Grandmother used to tell of some poor wretch who broke her plate on an old maid in a cornball, which was a joke, because cornballs and store teeth are incompatible. It's like a dog with a dab of taffy.) Then the rich effluvia of old-fashion- ed molasses would run riot in the house, and while we stirred the popcorn with long -handled spoons Grandma would pour the syrup most slowly over the bowl, so every kernel would get sticky. She'd butter her hand and form. the balls, and on the big roast -chicken platter they'd be put in the shed to cool - the longest hour. Then she'd fret for a week because all the doorknobs were sticky. A Lot at Steak: By finishing a 43/4 -lb. steak -and -kidney .pie in 17 min., 42 sec., Joe Steel, a .42 -year-old miner, won an eat- ing contest at Bedlington, Nor- thumberland. _ 6..L d i et 7, pions 8. Seed container 9. More competent 10. valleys 11. Urals duck 17, Peaceful 19, Fisher for eel 21. Taxi 22, Re indebted 24. Two -winged cher.) 26. 'Enlarge 28. Term of address CROSSWORD PUZZLE AC OSS J. Of a lobe 6, Drop bait gently 9. Find the sura 12. Brazilian parrot 18. Self 34. Obstruct 11. Mediterran- ean sailing vessel 16. Pronunciation marl: 14. 'Bread makers 20. (live off fumes 21.1ronntain pass 26.'(rnderstand 21. S't'anza 25. 'impressed with fear 27, A.cid fruit 29, By the side 81. Straightens 85. 7lnticed. 87, Wake well 62, Flexible palm slew, (var.) -41, 'M'ale sheep 43, 'Entangle 44. 'Redact 4,1, Distant 17, Controversial 40, Peeled .5", Refore ifi2. Behave $4. riush with 9nCee9:11 s (;aided *57. 46. A rfirrnative sr. Tuioff 1 1. N'ot strict 2, Source of metal 0. Talks like a child 4. Region 5. Places for hanging things /2 /5 2 2/ Z5 2s 38 44 47 55 22 39 3 /8 40 4 26 35 5 6 7 $ :0. Press for payment . 62. Figure 61. Epoch ' 84. Coterie 86. Builds 39, Drive away 29, Idolize 40. Covered wit h baked clay 42, Acted out of sorts 47. Cereal 46. Story 48. Spring month 10. (creek leiter 51. Tunisian ru1e1 9 /0 // 73 /4 /6 /7 /9 4:G•. 20 23 27 26 30 3/ 32 3 33 36 37 4/ 42 e .. 4.3 45 46 48 49 50 51 53 54 56 57 Answer elsewhere on this page, POOR MAN'S AIR CONDITIONER - Cabby Pierre Alidiere ex- plains to .an attentive gendarme how he keeps his passengers cool amid Paris'. hot -rodding traffic.; Twin propellers mounted on edge,of his cab's window du the trick. The breeze -or gale- set up by the moving cab turns the outside propeller and, voila - the inside oneshe turns. Simple, n'est-ce pas? ThH'AQN FRONT kulausell What follows would normally belong in our' cookery columns, 1 suppose. But those of us who recall, :fondly and • regretfully, the days. when, farming wasn't quite so streamlined and busi- nesslikeand especially those fortunate • enough 'to, have had ,Amish neighbors - will .,:ander- stand why it appears here. Ac- cording to Kipling, the iinmortal Homer swiped whatever he throught desirable; and why should 1 set myself up as better than homier? * In spite of the seasons' vagar- ies, this year; growing things' have followed their' usual pat- tern, and now the mushrooms ,rile" inviting us to sally forth With basket .and_ sharp knife to where they are rearing their sil- very heads in Amos's wooded lot. • Emmaline is always ready for a foray, since she is inordinately fond of "mushyroons." But on this particular morning her girls are tending a baby boy whose young mother is helping her husband tend their market stall in town, and we linger to watch his antics. Anna, who left school forever this spring, having reached 16, the age at which Amish girls are .considered to be sufficiently ed- ucated and 14 -year-old Hilda are delighted with their charge. If a baby can be spoiled in one day, he surely will be, for they lavish attention on him. Anna set him to gurgling and cooing by singing a Dutch lullaby. She is helping Anna to turn out a batch of cottage cheese with which Emmaline will make cheesecake for, Sunday's dinner. Hers in horse -and -buggy land, the people are sticklers for a season for everything and ev- erything in its season. They never, for instance, serve soup in hot weather: But on any crisp morning bustling Dutch house- wives greet you with: "Real good soup weather it is today." I have even heard the men say it. Cheesecake, however, is en- joyed the year round. Emma - line has standiing orders for hers each week at market, and there would surely be a hue and cry from her customers if 'it should be decreed that cheesecake is a seasonal dish, too. The secret of her cake's deli- cate smoothness is in the soft curd cheese. Known as "baker's cheese," it is the same kind noted chefs 'use in their own ele- gant cheesecakes, and so simple to make that one really enjoys putting the cream crocks to work, A kitchen thermometer is needed for pasteurizing a gal- lon of skim milk in a big double boiler at 145°F. for 30 minutes. After that the milk should be cooled to room temperature (70°F.) and kept there for the souring process, which is accom- plished by the addition of one- fourth of a rennet tablet dissolv- ed in a tablespoon of cold water, and one-fourth cup of cultured buttermilk, the kind sold in any dairy of grocery store. To make the calve batter, Emmaline mixes 2 cups of her homemade cheese with 3 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon lemon ex- tract, and x%4 teaspoon salt, then beats until smooth. Four, egg yolks, are added and beaten until well blended. Then she mixes in 3 tablespoons flour and the % cup of light cream and beats` again. In a large bowl, she beats until frothy, 4 egg whites, Ye teaspoon cream of tartar, 3/4 cup sugar, and continues beating until soft peaks form. Then she pours the cheese batter over the egg whites and folds it in gent- ly: pours all into the crumb - lined pan; sprinkles remaining crumbs over the top; then bakes the cake in a 300°F. oven for I full hour. In an electric or gas oven, one would now turn the heat off, and let the cake stand for another hour in the oven. But for Emmaline it means remov- ing .all unburned fuel from her firebox. She does it cheerfully, though, and warns, "Don't peek, even, for the whole bake -wait period." When the 'cake in all its state- ly splendor is removed from the oven, it is allowed to cool for another five minutes before the rim of the pan is removed. Then one needs only to slice it to re- veal its wonderfully smooth, velvety texture. * r< * Some like a sour cream top- ping for cheesecake, others hold out for pineapple. But I have heard Amos advise his custom- ers at market, "Try it with a good tart jam once," and that is what I like best. Does Emmaline mind having her cherished recipes revealed? Does the sun mind sharing its warmth? One is as probable as the other. She would love to know that housewives all over the country were baking cheese- cake "over her recipe." And be- ing a hospitable soul, she would point out that this recipe serves 12 nicely. She prepares her fresh mush- rooms the epicurean way, fried to a golden brown in lots of butter. But Mushrooms Naturelle are a treat, too. Wiped with a damp cloth and cut into pieces, they are simply shaken over the fire for a few minutes in a heat- ed skillet which has been sprink- BY REV R. BARCL,AY WARREN. B.A.. B,D, Ten Laws For Life (Temperance Lesson) Exodus 20:1-17 Memory Selection: Thou shalt have no other gods before me, Exodus 20:3. It is well if we as children memorized the ten command- ments. They were given by God through his servant Moses, near- ly 3,500 years ago. But they still form a satisfactory pattern for living. It is true that most of the Christian Church do not keep the seventh day but rather the first day of the week. There is no express command for the change but Jesus arose on the first day and appeared to his disciples. A week k later he again appeared. The Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost on this day. It came to be known as the Lord's Day. On this day the disciples came together to break bread in remembrance of Him. (Acts 20: 7.) But someone will ask. "What have the ten commandments to do with temperance? Let's put it this way. How does the drink- ing of alcohol affect our obser- vance of the commandments? • Almost daily the news throws light on the connection. Drunk- enness often prepares the way for immorality. It doesn't take much alcohol to loosen one's proper restraint of the sex in- stinct. For some, drunkenness leads to a false sense of confi- dence, paving the way for reck- lessness and death on the high- way. Drunkenness has never helped anyone. It has destroyed led with salt. With the addition of 3/4 cup of water, they are simmered uncovered until ten- der. Then covered and with the heat turned off they draw their own juice. A little garlic juice, chopped chives, or onion brings out the true mushroom flavor. By Mabel Slack Shelton in The Christian Science Monitor. the happiness of many homes. The late Dr. Guthrie, of Scot- land, once said, "Whiskey is good in its place. There is nothing iu, this world like whiskey for pre- serving a man when he is dead, but it is one of the worst things in 'the world for preserving a man when he is living. If you want to keep a dead man, put him in whiskey; if you want to kill a living man, put whiskey in him." Deeds Picket tells of a young woman in college who said, "Al- cohol always seems to transport me to a rosier world." Her room- mate shot back, "Yes, but what about the return trip?" Health officials are alarmedt at the thousands who are be- coming alcoholics. Well, you won't become an alcoholic if you don't take the first drink. If you have taken the first one. Jesus Christ can help you to never take another one. YOUNG AT HEART During a trial some years ago, the judge asked a witness: "Do you have any brothers or sis- ters?" "No, my only sister died 150 years ago." The judge looked incredulous. "That's not possible." "On the contrary," said the witness. "At the age of 20 my father married and had a daugh- ter. She died in infancy. When my father was 72 he became a widower. He married again. Four years later I was born, and I am now 94." Drive With Care Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking 3 J. 35 >1 V 3 V 1 3 3 1 w n N 3 1 1 v { N 3 a 3 d O w 1 O tiVy sad- A 9 3213 Id310d 1 1 I a 3 S3 3M 10 93 V 4,33 X 003 V d V l V. dVa: '1'01 "SLIENT" CALL TO DUTY - Alerted by a buzz from his tiny, breast pocket-size receiver, this doctor at St. Thomas Hospital, in London, England, lifts unit to his ear to learn why he's being paged. Each doctor on the floor carries a receiver, which operates on its own wavelength Controlled from an ultra short- range broadcasting station, the new paging system supplements the conventional loud speaker or call -bell system of locating staff members. s-.: ...•..:.:.x ewtos�aowmn�t €..::a::Mn. CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE -- Philip Piecyk, 14, far left, edits unbelieving eyes at the first bull moose reported in Connecticut in a century Game wardens remained unconvinced of the sighting until shown this photograph, reproduced from a cola! slide taken by Philip's father, Victor Piecyk, when the aninrnal appeared in the pasture of the family's farm.